322: THE WHITE DAGGER

THE WHITE DAGGER

This came out as a surprise for Cane. "You know you can meet with Kellan there, right? You don't need to go if you don't want to."0

After learning what had happened, Cane improvised his plan around Iris and how to get the public sympathy, thus for Iris to go to the orphanage regularly was not necessary.

"I know. I will go there if he is not there." Iris flinched when she heard his name was being mentioned and this subtle reaction didn't go unnoticed by Cane.

"He spent five to six days in the orphanage in a week, how can you plan a regular visit, while avoiding him."

Iris was surprised to read that revelation. She knew prince Kellan visited the orphanage often, but not that often… he practically lived there and this made Iris became even more uncomfortable. How many children did he…

Iris gritted her teeth, as she clutched her dress tightly, her body tensed up.

Cane stared at his mate for a while, but when she didn't say anything, he pinched her chin and lifted her head, so she could see his question. "You have a plan in your mind?"

"It's not really a plan," Iris said in small voice. She couldn't help, but compared her measly plan with Cane's grand one and felt dejected.

"Let me hear it then."

Iris pursed her lips. "Don't laugh."

"Why would I?"

Iris couldn't answer that. The only thing she knew, she was embarrassed. "I want to teach the children how to read and write."

"Mm." Cane prodded further for her to talk, because he couldn't see the need for Iris to teach those children how to read and write, but he wasn't completely against it, he needed more context about what Iris was going to do.

"I want them to be able to exchange letter with me," Iris said. "We will not stay here forever, right? So, when we return to the Howling Wolf pack, I want to still be in contact with them."

This idea sounded very trivial, but in the future, it would help them tremendously, even Cane failed to see it, because right now, the alpha's main focus was to get the public sympathy and the sound of his mate teaching those children such precious thing would look good.

Lowborn people didn't get enough education, almost all of them illiterate because writing and reading were two things that exclusively reserved for the highborn only.

Since they needed to trade with other people, they could do calculation, but it was very limited, not a few people were deceived because they were not well educated.

Cane contemplated about this. "What about Kellan?" He intentionally mentioned his name, knowing how uncomfortable Iris was. If she couldn't handle the mention of his name, she shouldn't meet him in person.

Once again, Iris flinched. She fiddled with her fingers. "Can't you take him away?"

"Do you want me to kidnap him?" There was amusement in Cane's eyes when he heard that. He knew Iris was not serious with her request, it almost like a passing comment and she realized it was impossible.

Iris pursed her lips. "He is already crippled, it will not difficult for you to do so." There was a hint of hatefulness when she mentioned Kellan's disability. "You can take him down easily."

"He is already crippled, you will be able to take him down easily too." Cane fished out something from his cloak and put it in her hand. "From what I heard, he can't shift into his beast."

Iris lowered her head and saw the dagger. This was the same white dagger that Cane gave her the other night, when he told her to stab him if he did something that would hurt her.

However, she handed it over again to him, because she didn't want to do that and be blamed for hurting the alpha. His people would raise hell, if they learned Iris had hurt Cane.

Seeing the dagger, Iris was about to retract her hand, but Cane held it firmly.

"I don't know how to use it," Iris said honestly, she had never stabbed anyone, not even hurting a fly.

"For protection," Cane said curtly. When you were hard pressed and in precarious situation, your survival instinct would kick in and you would do anything to survive, thus it would be better to have something handy in your possession than nothing at all. "I will teach you how."

As a shifter, using dagger was not common, Cane was not great with weapon either, since they themselves was a weapon, but he knew a few tricks.

"Okay." Iris nodded. She trusted him.

"You have not yet answered my question, what will you do if he is around?"

"I… I will face him," Iris said hesitantly, without any confidence at all.

Cane caressed her cheek and rubbed her earlobe, which made her squirmed. She held his hand away from her ear to stop him.

"Going into a battle without two plans, it's the same as a suicide." Two plans. Cane was talking about a back up plan. "You must learn that."

Iris became anxious when she saw how serious Cane was, but she looked at him attentively.

"When the time comes and you have to stain your hands with blood to survive, do it. The survivors can invent stories of how they lived and the dead cannot refute that statement." What Cane wanted Iris to learn was; as long as you were alive, it didn't matter what the truth behind the dead, because stories could be fabricated. "Remember that."

Cane didn't want her to be so clueless and naïve, though he adored her kindness, but she needed to know what she must do and what she had to do to survive. Kindness was a good trait, but it was not necessary in his case, especially if it was more than needed.

You needed to be able to draw a clear line between being kind and being a fool.

"Understood?" Cane squeezed her hand that held his.

"Understood." Iris nodded, albeit she was still trying to grasp the meaning behind his words, but she scrapped the surface of what he wanted her to do. "Oh, right. Earlier, princess Laluna came and she said Sir Dwan wanted to see you."

A crafty look flitted in his dark eyes when he heard that. "Okay."

Cane was about to leave, but then Iris held his hand to stop him. "Will you comeback for dinner?" she used to have dinner with him, but recently, he had been very busy. She missed him, but she didn't want to appear too clingy with him.

"I don't think I will manage for dinner."

"Oh."

Cane saw how Iris looked disappointed, he hoped she didn't make it very clear for anyone else to see her emotions, but then, he liked this side of her. He didn't want to corrupt her, but then the way she took the world needed to change, as it didn't suit with what would come to them later.

"But, I will stay for breakfast tomorrow," Cane added, as he kissed her hand that held his. "I need to leave now." He had made a few people waited because he came here to see her first.

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